Mehran Assadi Elected Chairman of the Board of National Life Group

Montpelier, Vermont – National Life’s Board of Directors has elected Chief Executive Officer Mehran Assadi chairman of the board, effective immediately.

Assadi has served as president and CEO of the company since 2009. He will retain those titles as he also assumes the chairmanship.

He succeeds Thomas H. MacLeay, a former president and CEO who has served as chairman since 2002. MacLeay will remain on the nine-member Board as the lead director.

The unanimous election of Assadi by the Board of Directors followed the annual meeting on May 12, 2017.

“Mehran has transformed our company,” said MacLeay. “We are now on the launching pad for a really remarkable future.”

“It has been my great privilege to lead National Life,” said Assadi. “I am honored and humbled to be asked to now lead the board as well.”

Assadi joined National Life in September 2003. Two years later he was appointed the company’s president of Life and Annuity. In 2009 he succeeded MacLeay as president and chief executive officer. Assadi has led major growth in sales of National Life’s life and annuity products and worked to build a culture of collaboration, engagement and empowerment among employees. Before joining National Life Group Assadi served as chief marketing officer and chief information officer at Provident Mutual in Newark, Delaware.

Before that he served as executive vice president, chief marketing officer and chief information officer at Provident Mutual in Newark, Delaware. Previously he served for 16 years in various senior positions with United States Fidelity and Guaranty of Baltimore.

A graduate of Towson University, Assadi has a Master’s in Management Information Systems from the University of Baltimore.

Assadi and his wife Janet have three sons, Anthony, Jordan, and Ryan

MacLeay joined National Life in 1976 as a security analyst, rapidly advancing through the management ranks and serving in pivotal positions at critical times in the company’s growth and expansion. He became president and chief operating officer in 1996; in 2002 he was named chief executive officer and chairman of the Board. He stepped down as president and CEO in 2008.

National Life’s sales growth has made it the fastest growing life insurance company in America during the past 10 years among all life insurance companies with individual life sales of at least $50 million in 2006.* In industry rankings maintained by LIMRA, the company has climbed from being the 32nd largest life insurance company in 2011 to the 18th largest company in 2016 for individual life insurance sales.

National Life Group has been based in Montpelier, Vermont, since the chartering of National Life Insurance Company in 1848. It has more than 1,000 employees divided between campuses in Montpelier and Dallas, Texas.

At National Life, our story is simple: For more than 168 years we’ve worked hard to deliver on our promises to millions of people with our vision of providing peace of mind in times of need. It’s our cause, stemming from a deep passion to live our values to do good, be good and make good, every day. Learn more at NationalLife.com.

May 12, 2017

Contact: Ross Sneyd, corporate communications, National Life Group, 802.249.7506.

National Life Group® is a trade name of National Life Insurance Company, founded in Montpelier, Vt., in 1848, Life Insurance Company of the Southwest, Addison, Texas, chartered in 1955, and their affiliates.  Each company of National Life Group is solely responsible for its own financial condition and contractual obligations.  Life Insurance Company of the Southwest is not an authorized insurer in New York and does not conduct insurance business in New York.

*LIMRA Sales Rankings, 4Q2016